Discoveries from Estonia World Cinema

In a world within the Earth, Antipolis inhabitants unaware of their globe existence face a shocking revelation when they discover the truth.

Follows Brianna as she teams up with journalist Landon to uncover the truth about her father’s murder.

As a young woman, Claire left her hometown in disgrace. Now she is old and unimaginably rich, as for the first time she returns. The town is nearly bankrupt and in urgent need of money. Everybody hopes Clara will come to the rescue. And she will. However, there is a condition: somebody must kill the man who was her lover all those years ago.

It seems the summer will last forever. Sisters Mia and Liki are taking the most out of it, but the signs that something's wrong with the parents, are disturbing their happy life. Girls perceive the changes around them, but can’t comprehend the situation, which causes inexplicable fear and confusion.

What can an old apple tree tell us? What mysteries are hidden in his roots, gnarled over time? Does he remember the serpent and the lost Paradise? Our body remembers more than we can expect and imagine. It remembers the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. It keeps alive the stories of our parents and grandparents as well as their ancestors. But how far back is it possible to go in your bodily memory? The stop-motion animation BODY MEMORY takes as its central concept the idea that our body remembers, not only individual experiences, but also the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. A powerful visualization of subconscious processes and the hidden horror of deportation. Inspired by historical events: the Soviet deportations from Estonia in the 1940s.

To understand the international phenomenon of Uku Kuut means to understand the ability of different musical niches, sub-genres and hidden creative explosions to not only exist, but flourish, completely independently of the mainstream. Kuut’s life, mothered by Maryn E.Coote (who you may know as the Estonian jazz diva Marju Kuut), took him from the Soviet Union to a refuge in Sweden, music studios in Los Angeles, back to a re-independent Estonia and later, fighting ALS, to loudspeakers all around the world.

Correctness-loving Eve and effortless Leida are colleagues and opposites, working everyday side by side at a small town library. During a casual wordgame between the two, prideful Leida´s factually wrong answer about Numbats habitat upsets Eve. Unfortunately for her the book to end the debate is missing. Unanswered calls to the bookholder and smirky Leida sets her off on a hunt for the book. An absurd adventure to prove her co-worker wrong begins and takes unusual turns until the very end.

Sven Grünberg is a composer, musician, Buddhist thinker, the introducer of the Dalai Lama to Estonia, and a father – to name just a few roles in his life. Of course, he is also a son, husband, brother, teacher, and human being. He is a distinctive personality with a well-defined worldview. Despite his connection with Buddhism, he is a man of sharp words, yet one who is ready to take responsibility for his opinions or judgments. A few years ago, Grünberg underwent a serious heart operation, which led him to see life from a new perspective. Bonus Track portrays Sven Grünberg in the period following his operation, as he continues to create new music, ensures the flawless preservation of his earlier works, raises his preschool-aged daughter, and organizes the third visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

On a snowy wasteland a body awakens with no memories. By following a trail of footprints in the snow he reaches a car, where he finds a diary and driver's license with a name: Eerik Traat. From the last diary entry, Eerik reads about eye drops that help visualize memories and memory-erasing tablets. In the hope of restoring his memories and identity, Eerik decides to recreate the memories by using the eye drops. At first, everything seems normal, but gradually inconsistencies and distortions begin to arise.

The story follows Estonian volunteer fighting for the German SS and his perilous journey as he attempts to reach American lines to avoid Soviet captivity, facing impossible choices between surrendering to the Soviets (and likely execution or Siberian camps) or continuing a hopeless fight westward.

In 2009 Maureen & James Tusty, filmmakers for The Singing Revolution, produced a second film out of Estonia. Seen nationally on U.S. Public Broadcasting, this one hour documentary tells the history of Estonia’s massive Song Festival, and the role music plays in Estonian culture, even today.

“Counterpoint” is a story about a former violin player who, due to an accident, is now in a wheelchair and unable to play. In order to help someone much weaker than himself, he has to take a huge step and conquer his inner fears.

Stories about Tartu and Southern Estonia, capturing the tricks and mysteries about the arts of survival. Renowned filmmakers from Estonia and abroad bring us uniquely wild tales of people, communities, and the culture they live in. In these stories, we meet peculiar vehicles known as “karakat” from Peipsi, charming non-places of Tartu, the wild German woman living an off-grid life without water and electricity, mischievous goats and crazy village parties, the diverse Annelinn residents and nostalgic Petseri, slime mould and space exploration, and of course, the artists of survival from today and past.

Based on Andrus Kivirähk's books "Poo and spring", "Carnival and Potato Salad" and "Ghost and Facebook", the film tells about longing, friendship, love, family and fears, which often have big eyes. The adventures of the strange characters are spiced with the characteristic warm and bold humor of Kivirähk, wittily weaving together the boundless fantasy of children and the living conditions of the modern world.

Arno Tali's son Arnold returns to his homeland Paunvere, which ignites a passionate love triangle between Paunvere's young Toots', Kiir's and Teele's. Despite the restrictions of the occupation period, people party, have fun and fight, youthful bravado does not allow itself to be tamed even in dangerous times.

The 6 short films of "Tabamata ime" are based on Edward Vilde's play of the same name first published in 1912. Vilde's play is about a young piano player Leo Saalep, who returns to his homeland Estonia to give a concert, and whose alleged international breakthrough has given him the long awaited role of putting Estonian culture on the map in the eyes of the local culture elite.

There are two people who wake up in the same bed one morning, and neither of them has a clue who the other is. Viivi would like to run away and the man is sleeping like a log. Unlike Viivi and Andu themselves, the viewers know both very well. They know that Viivi has the worst day in her life and that Andu is a dweeb, but not completely hopeless; a rather good-hearted man. They are both hopelessly lonely people hoping that maybe there's someone somewhere - So they might as well meet.

Although Teresa Liivak has settled down in nine different places, she calls a white Ford Transit her real home. Teresa rebuilt her van to be a barbershop on wheels. On her journey she meets very different kinds of men.

Unexpectedly evicted from his house, Erki faces a rather difficult task to take care of his lonely mother. He’s forced to agree to become a corpse carrier.

A poetic documentary essay about war, fears and solidarity based on broadcast videos of military parades which enter into a dialogue with deeply introspective texts by the poet Sveta Grigorjeva.

Documents the rehearsals and premiere of Arvo Pärt’s work “Which was the son of…” performed by the Voices of Europe youth choir in Iceland in August 2000, conducted by Thorgerdur Ingolfsdottir

A young man enters a subway station, which is filled with posters and advertisements of beautiful men and women. Descending the stairs, he is plunged into a world he cannot control and finds himself on a strange path that leads to a chase through empty carriages, full of whispers and shadows in half-lit stations.

Andreas, a dark poet, and Lo, yet to capture the perfect photo, are a couple who haven't found success in their field. But when Andreas is asked to perform at the Press Photo Exhibition, their lives will change forever.

An old Finnish athlete travels alone through eastern Europe with his van.

Through pitchblack humor that’s born from a familiar absurdity of life’s situational satire, this film offers a sharp insight to the minds of somewhat intertwined inner worlds of two lonely individuals.

Adam’s Passion is the moving first collaboration between two “masters of slow motion who harmonize perfectly with each other” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). In the spectacular setting of a former submarine factory, American director and universal artist Robert Wilson creates a poetic visual world in which the mystical musical language of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt can cast its meditative spell. Three of Pärt’s major works – Adam’s Lament, Tabula rasa, and Miserere, as well as Sequentia, a new work composed especially for this production – are brought together here using light, space, and movement to create a tightly-woven Gesamtkunstwerk in which the artistic visions of these two great artists mirror each other.

A documentary about an old animation technique and the film studio that tries to carry on the legacy. The worlds oldest animation studio still making film with stop motion technique is Nukufilm located in Tallinn, Estland. Here we can follow the work in the studio which was founded in the Soviet era and has survived heavy censorship and global competition.

In Paradisum relates two disturbing stories simultaneously. The female narrator tells her personal tale of imprisonment as the wife of the notorious Estonian serial killer, Andreas Hanni. Although her story is bizarre, it touches familiar themes that run throughout modern life: the desire to be loved and the fear of being alone. Pille Hanni's tale unfolds over cinema vérité images of life in several Estonian prisons. At times the images reflect in a literary way the events of the narration, yet they are representations and impressions, rather than traditional documentary style footage of the people involved. This opens the story to a more general interpretation, often with unsettling results. The parallel contents reveal, at two levels of story and social organisation, how the bizarre and inhuman can be tolerable and even addictive in the face of our fears.

Freak inventor Jaan's far fetched dreams about ascending to the clouds are about to materialize when he's joined by the great Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci's spirit. Instead, Jaan's wife Lisa, neglected by the crazy genius, gets metamorphosed into a winged creature and is "catapulted" into the blue skies, where dreams meet.

A young woman takes on an audacious human experiment while testing the human limit of consuming culture and asking whether art has the power to change a life.

Half the film was shot with a video camera taken from a television station without permission, the cast and staff were unpaid, and the script was written as a screenwriting class assignment.

After years of working at a coastal weather station, a lone meteorologist, Julius, is suddenly notified that his weather station will be shut down.

Manivald is a fox in his early 30s. He is still living at home with his mother. One day a young hot wolf called Toomas comes to fix the washing machine. A love triangle develops between the three of them. Things get out of hand and Manivald realizes that it is time to move out.

Digital pet cat Miisu gets tired of her owner and starts to revolt. Inspired by Tamagotchi, MIISUFY observes the world through the eyes of digital pets.

Having suffered the loss of their plane, three pilots inexplicably find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert. While following the perilous and unpredictable course that will ultimately lead them home, they fall prey to visions and must confront the siren call of their own strange fantasies. With Pilots on the Way Home, Priit and Olga Pärn (Divers in the Rain) have created a new, satirical meditation on male-female relations. The film tackles masculinity and the male psyche with the same pointed sense of the absurd that has marked Priit Pärn's previous films. Pilots on the Way Home is also a journey through time and space, and to the universal sources of artistic eroticism. Olga Pärn is a master of the art of animating sand, giving Priit Pärn's unique line drawings a warm and subtle texture reminiscent of etching. Her work is perfectly matched to the impassioned beats of this tale.

The documentary "Kadunud unistus" (“Lost Dream”), directed by Sergei Zjuganov, is the filmmaker’s debut feature. It takes viewers to Estonia in the 1990s - a period when newly regained freedom, the influence of Western car culture, and a rapidly changing society shaped the identity and dreams of an entire generation.

Eva, 45, has recently divorced and is now afraid of losing both her son and her best friend to her ex’s new young, successful and brilliant sweetheart Isabel. To win back her positions, Eva goes on a road trip with her friend Marleen and Isabel, which makes the women confront different men, comical mishaps, even more comical quarrels, real hunting and most importantly themselves, forcing them to realise in the Christmas bustle what is most precious in life.

Entertaining portrait of Erlend Štaub - a self-made professional photographer working at the president's annual reception, theatrical premieres, and film festivals like Black Nights and Cannes, and talking about life and everything in it.

Jura is a lover of all things alcoholic and not long for this world, but there is one who understands the danger - the young boy next door. This child would give anything to save his friend.

A mixture of popular stories are reversed and adapted to the Barbie universe. Queen Tiina (that's what these Barbies are called) asks who is the most beautiful in the city of Las Tiinas and someone dares to say that there is someone more beautiful than her. Immediately afterwards, Queen Tiina decides to kill the beautiful doll, who ends up in the sewers surrounded by forgotten toys (such as a melancholic Pinocchio and a charming rag doll).

Staged at the Russian Theater (Tallinn), "Idiot" has entered the history of the Estonian theater due to the magnificent performances of Alexander Ivashkevich, Larisa Savankova and Eduard Toman.

A lcurious little girl, Agnes, follows Mihkel to an abandoned house, where she discovers a Russian policeman Dmitri tied-up in the basement. Unaware of his true identity, Agnes attempts to free him before Mihkel comes back.

Multiplying the existing point of view the actual oneness seems changes to unevenness.

Class Reunion 2: A Wedding and a Funeral sees the return of the three high-school friends Mart, Andres and Toomas. This time they are planning a memorable stag party for Toomas, but due to unexpected turn of events end up at a funeral instead. It has been a year since the unforgettable class reunion and our three friends have all reached new stages in their lives. The rock star Toomas (Genka) has finally decided to get married. Mart (Mait Malmsten) is having troubles with his wife. And Andres (Ago Anderson) has declared war on the female sex and decided to become a resolute bachelor.

A warm movie about two boys, who discover a secret of a painting that was considered to be lost. The adventures begin, when a boss of a bunch of criminals finds out about the painting.

Kaminsky is a long-distance driver disappointed both in life and other people. His last duty as a drives takes him to Estonia where he decides to fulfill an old promise. By chance, Kaminsky meets an Estonian cellist Stella on his road. Her career in Germany has ended already before it ever started. Kaminsky's trailer truck is being steadily followed by a catafalque where an Estonian beginner bank robber Wolf is chasing his eluded prey. Undertaker Manfred with dark past tries to lead Wolf closer to God. In Estonia, everyone's wishes will come true, even if not exactly the way they ...

After the death of the world's last cow, a young couple finds themselves on a hunt for butter through the labyrinth of their apartment building. When they finally reach the basement, a dangerous game for life and butter awaits them.

A wintry fairytale for adults. The unusual love story is based on the motifs of H. C. Andersen's fairytale. A woman living in an ice castle lures a boy to her. He becomes so spellbound by the woman and her land of ice that he forgets the real world. The woman hides the secret of why she is living in the cold from the boy. Those, who know the original story by H.C. Andersen, will also remember that only a few lines spoke of the relationship between the boy and the Snow Queen. The question remained unanswered: what did the boy and the Snow Queen do in the ice castle during all the time the girl spent looking for the boy?

Andres is a sensitive teenager raised by his strict grandparents in a small bland Soviet Estonian town. He is being bullied at school and his only friends are the drunkards, whores, and thieves living next door.

A woman in a self-destructive cycle, discovers that her apartment is mysteriously filling with water. To save herself, Mari must delve into her subconscious and confront what has surfaced.

Former mafia boss Mart wants to live a quiet life with his family in a country home. He is not allowed that luxury. He decides to ask for help from Ahto, who has founded a detective agency. Once again, cooperation with the police is started in order to jointly expose the criminal group.

Miia takes care of her ornery grandfather, who has cancer, and her ailing grandmother, who is almost wholly bedridden. She struggles through her days in the oppressive atmosphere of her grandparents’ house, never complaining, contending with the cruel and pitiless consequences of age and physical decline. Yet she doesn’t lose her appreciation for the few remaining moments of beauty along the way.

A dog, Popi, and a monkey named Huhuu are waiting for their Master to come home. But one day it becomes clear that he’s not going to be coming home anymore. From that day their mutual lives begin. While he is actually smarter and stronger than his simian companion, Popi capitulates to every one of Huhuu’s whims in a show of obedience and subservience. Huhuu meanwhile becomes a symbol of licentiousness and tomfoolery. The film is based on the short story "Popi and Huhuu" by Estonian author Friedebert Tuglas.

On a misty sea drifts a lonely boat. While unseen danger lurks in the fog, the boat's motor is out of order and visibility is as clear as the relationship between the two men sitting in the boat. Do they get out of the mist? Or is it already too late?

A documentary about a group of activists in Tallinn who try to improve their quarter.

A parable about a solitary man who has forsaken the world and finds comfort only in planting trees. This activity has become a sacred ritual for him. Yet deep inside, he awaits and seeks some sort of solution to his solitude. One day during a particularly severe drought, the Earth answers him - the man finds the unconscious body of a woman in the soil cracked by the heat. Without stopping to think, he takes her home, resuscitates her and looks after her. This unexpected companion seriously test his convictions. How far can solitude go? A story about the destructive vicious circle of solitude - the fixed idea, love and giving up love.

Portrait of the Catalan chef Albert Adrià, brother of the world-renowned chef Ferran Adrià, an emerging figure in the world of Spanish haute cuisine, with his own voice, far from the shadow of his brother.

Jakop, a lone fisherman on the coast of lake Peipus has to decide whether refugees brought to his door are his way of redeeming past sins or merely a means to quickly earn much needed cash.

The main character of the film, Ahto, is wrongly imprisoned. Now he craves revenge.